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ArenaNet have mentioned that players who do not have
a particular expansion can be invited to play with friends in the new
areas. Whilst this is an amazing idea and venture, what are the downsides
for players without the expansion? What are they missing out on?
This is a great question, because it gives us a chance
to clear up a misunderstanding that took place in an interview a month
or so ago. Our focus has always been on allowing you to play with your
friends in shared areas of the world. When you purchase the next chapter
of Guild Wars, you will have access to new areas; those who don’t will
not be able to go to those new areas, it's that simple.
So, aside from not traveling to new areas, what else
is a downside to not purchasing the next chapter? Well, you would be missing
a ton of cool new content! You would be missing new regions, new professions,
new skills, new items, new quests… maybe even new player races. When you
stop and consider that the each new chapter will be comparable in size
and depth to the first chapter, that's a whole lot of new game to experience.
We know that some players will choose not to purchase
a chapter, or may purchase some chapters and not others. It’s very important
to state that such a choice will not place you at a gameplay disadvantage.
You won’t lose your ability to compete, and the playing field will remain
level. But when you purchase the next chapter, you will be able to develop
a larger number of strategic choices by drawing from an arsenal that contains
more skills, spells, attributes and abilities. You will not be strictly
more powerful, but will have a greater range of combat options. In a nutshell,
by purchasing the chapters, you will enjoy a richer story and deeper gameplay
and combat experiences.
How will the game be released? Is a worldwide release
date planned, or will the game be released across the world at various
times? Will the game be available online in the sense that you can immediately
start to play?
Guild Wars will enjoy a worldwide release. We will have
a simultaneous release in North America and Korea, and will release in
other areas of the world shortly thereafter. You can purchase the game
from your favorite retailer and hop right into Guild Wars. We will also
work with retailers to make sure that people who don't have access to
the retail distribution channel can purchase online. And of course there
will be pre-order options offered from the retailers. In fact, there may
even be a special benefit to those who preorder, but I’d better not talk
about that quite yet. ;)
It appears that Guild Wars PvP combat revolves around
small teams of 8 people. Are there any plans to allow larger sized PvP
battles such as 32 vs. 32 or 50 vs. 50?
The Guild Wars engine can certainly support large groups
for PvP; there is no technical reason why we could not do so. So far,
we have found that 8 players is a very effective group size. The question
then is about the number of groups that could form a single team. For
that decision, we will weigh feedback from the E3 for Everyone event,
and will rely on our alpha testers to share their perspective of combat
in Guild Wars.
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Stratics Central
